*to an extent

When I tell people I am a neuroscience major, I usually get the response, “Wow, you must be so smart!” I humbly nod and smile, (who doesn’t like being told they’re smart?) but tell them, “Really, it’s not that hard, I really enjoy what I do!” If neuroscience was taught in high school like chemistry or biology or math, it wouldn’t seem that impressive. Sure, to fully understand neuroscience, a thorough knowledge of all those things is required. That’s why a lot of schools don’t offer neuroscience as a major for undergraduates. Neuroscience is a relatively new field, but it is expanding at an astonishing rate. That’s because understanding our brain is, at the most fundamental level, understanding ourselves. Honestly, as much as we have learned, we still know so little about what is actually happening in the three pound mass in our skulls, dictating every move we make.

I love to tell people how their brains work, and I like to think they are interested. This stuff is new and exciting, and everyone has a brain, so everyone can relate. This research is our only hope of curing diseases like Alzheimer’s and ALS, but also tells us why that morning coffee is so good at waking us up. There are many misconceptions out there about how the brain works. There can be a disconnect between the scientific community and the rest of the population. Scientific papers are hard to read. I think people can understand what is happening in the brain, it is just that there aren’t many places to go to find that information easily.

Neuroscientists do really cool stuff, like:

• Attach a third eye to a frog embryo to see what will happen (This study gave incredible insight to how our visual system wires itself up)
• Discover a neuron in visual cortex that fires a lot in response to pictures of Jennifer Aniston (there’s one for Julia Roberts as well)
• Regulate epilepsy
• Develop radical new treatments for Parkinson’s disease
• Explain the effects of ecstasy
• Read your mind (OK not quite yet, but we’re on our way)

We hear that we only use a fraction of our brains. If we could actually unlock the brain’s full potential, we could be invincible. While our brains actually don’t have a secret untapped compartment of super-powerful neurons, our brains are amazing. The brain has figured out just the right balance of activity so that we are not overloaded by information and can perform functions quickly and efficiently. With an uncanny ability of figuring out how to keep on working, the brain can survive severe trauma (one guy survived having a metal rod go straight through his head). It has figured out how to perceive reality and solve problems the many advanced computer systems cannot do. It’s funny, but so true that the brain named itself. Understanding your brain is really understanding yourself!